Beck Hole must always have been a special place, attracting
those of an artistic temperament and bringing out the latent talent of those
who visited orlived here.

On any day in summer you are likely to find someone engrossed in the singular
pleasure of capturing the spirit of Beck Hole on paper or canvas, and few visitors
leave without taking at least a photograph.

Algernon
Newton hangs his second painting outside the Birch Hall Inn

LOCAL GALLERIES.........................................

To find out how contemporary
artists see the area visit a few of our supergalleries nearby ..

phone them for their
location, opening times and to find out about current exhibitions

Grosmont Gallery &
Jazz Café

01947 895007

Michelle Saunders Studio,
Lythe

01947 893565

Turnstone Gallery,
Sandsend

01947 893289

Pybus Fine Arts,
Whitby

01947 820028

Forge Gallery, Robin
Hoods Bay

01947 881049

A permanent exhibition of
local interest including paintings of the esteemed Staithes Group,is at the
Pannett Park Museum and Gallery ,Whitby

A new Gallery is now open in
Staithes featuring well known artists who follow in the footsteps of the
original Staithes group in their fascination with capturing the light and
spirit of this wonderful coastline..

phone for more
information01947 841840

Perhaps the most famous connection to the artworld is

Algernon Newton RA.

Born in Hampstead in 1880, the third generation of his father's family to
make a name for himself in painting, he lived and studied in and around London

with a brief time in Cornwall between 1916 -- 1919.
Indeed it was his grandfather who set up, in 1832, the firm of art materials
suppliers that still survives as Windsor& Newton

He painted townscapes and landscapes and was one of more than thirty artists
who were chosen to produce murals and artefacts for the decoration of The
Queen Mary.

Elected to the RoyalAcademy in 1943. He was a
good friend of Dame Laura Knight, a respected member of the famous Staithes
Group of Artists who took particular pleasure in the people and places of our
coastline. Could it have been she who introduced him to the beauty of North Yorkshire ?

He came to live in Beck Hole in 1941, a good time to be out of war worn London, and stayed until
1948.

Until
1940 there were two inns here, The Birch Hall Inn and The Black Bulllater re-named The Lord Nelson.Algernon Newton lived in The Lord Nelson after it had closed and
converted the upper floor into a studio.Whilst living at The Lord Nelson he painted
an inn sign for the surviving public house, The Birch Hall Inn, and gave it
to the landlady, Mrs Schofield, in gratitude for many happy hours spent
there.

She later passed into the care of the Parish.

The Lord Nelson

The painting still hangs outside and shows the view of the Murk Esk in its steep sided gorge as it flows past the pub and under the bridge ...look carefully and you can still recognise it if you spend a few minutes on the bridge today...

tho' trees have grown and successive high rivers have shuffled the rocks around !

This is a
photo of his first picture, an impression of the inn as it may have looked
many years earlier. Unfortunately it succumbed to the rigours of the weather
and in 1944 was replaced by the one above, which he painted on a metal sheet.

It's easy to see the similarity of the hillside and lone tree in the background

Lord Leighton of Stretton

One of the earliest artistic connections I know about came via the Leighton
family, who owned property in & around Beck Hole in the 1600's.

Successive
generations lived in Beck Hole until 1741 when they moved to Scarborough, and in later years,London. It's a descendant of theirs, one
Frederic Leighton, eventually First Baron Leighton,who became a very famous
painter, sculptor andexhibitor at The Royal Academy, and was elected president of the RA in 1896.
Several of his paintings became best sellers in photo-gravure reproduction
and one of his original works was purchased by Queen Victoria,for £8,500. The Antiques Road
Show has featured one of his bronze sculptures and an oil painting. The
latter in a programme in February 1992 and said to be valuedat £20,000 .

Douglas Reay

More recently we have had
the local writer and artist Douglas Reay who lived in a Linden Lea, a tiny
cottage on the green overlooking the quiot pitch, until the ealy 1980's. He added a glass porch to
his home and it's said passers by were always welcome to go in for a look
round and a chat.

He contributed Nature Notes to various publications and was a keen
illustrator and produced his own unique style of engravings depicting
wildlife and local scenes..... below is a photocopy of one of Douglas Reays works kindly
sent to me by Mr B Stevenson. Showing the Birch Hall Inn from the village green.

Hilary Davis of Norfolk recently came across this engraving of a different view of Beckhole in an auction and kindly sent me a copy